1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game apparatus or the like which creates ranking information including scores obtained by other users with whom a user of the game apparatus has never played a game by transmitting and receiving ranking information to and from another game apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A competitive game is a game that may be played by two or more players and gives each player points according to the player's performance relative to the performance of the other player(s). The player would enjoy a ranking table which would show not only points given as a result of a single competition, but also points given based on results of past competitions in comparison with points obtained by other players. The player's satisfaction becomes greater when the points obtained by the player are ranked higher. Even if the points obtained by the player are ranked higher, the ranking table makes it easier for the player to find another adequate player as an opponent.
In arcade game machines, multiple persons play a game using the same game apparatus, so that a stand-alone type game apparatus, which is not connected to another game apparatus, creates and displays a ranking table of points obtained in the game by individual players. Because unspecified multiple persons play a game with an arcade game machine, however, the player does not understand who got which points even when the ranking table showing the points is displayed. It is difficult for each player to look for another player who matches his or her level based on the point ranking table displayed on the arcade game machine.
While unspecified multiple persons play a game with an arcade game machine, the demographics (such as skills, ages, or so) of the players who play the game apparatus are not balanced depending on the place where the arcade game machine is sited. For example, the concentration of children among entire players may be low or high. If each player believes in a ranking table to be displayed on a stand-alone type arcade game machine, therefore, the player may misjudge his or her actual level in the game.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-319319 discloses a network game system which gathers results of games played by players from individual game terminals to a server apparatus via communication lines, and distributes the results tallied in the server apparatus to the individual game terminals. In the network game system, each player can know which level the player is in among other players, particularly, among high-ranked players, without worrying about the demographics of the players.
Because the network game system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-319319 gathers game results over a wide area like all parts of Japan, there are many players to be ranked and the ranking table shows the points of only a limited number of players, such as high-ranked players. In addition, the ranking table contains points of those players who are not likely to be opponents to each player. It is therefore difficult to find an opponent who matches the level of each player from those shown in the ranking table.
To create a ranking table, the network game system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-319319, the server apparatus needs to gather information from each game apparatus. This disadvantageously increases the computer resources that are used in creating a ranking table. After transmitting a game result to the server apparatus, each game terminal stands by to receive a ranking table created by the server apparatus, and cannot therefore execute any valid process until the ranking table is distributed from the server apparatus, thereby wasting the computer resources.
Recent portable game apparatuses have a peer-to-peer connecting capability, so that such a portable game apparatus connects to another game apparatus in a peer-to-peer manner by a cable or wirelessly. Multiple players can play a competitive game with one another using multiple portable game apparatuses connected in a peer-to-peer manner. Such a portable game apparatus is not connected to the server apparatus at the time of playing a competitive game. Even in a case of creating a ranking table, therefore, only the points of other players with whom the player has already played are reflected in the ranking table to be created. This makes it difficult for each player to find an opponent who matches the level of the player from those with whom the player has not yet played based on the ranking table. The same problem would arise in a race game, or such, where scores are shown by times needed to finish a goal, not points.